Music

July 07, 2015

I noticed today was July 7 (7/7), which reminded me of a funny story. Apparently, 2 or 3 years ago, I was flying into Las Vegas and realized we were on Flight #777. I was shocked! I started laughing when one of nearby flight attendants politely asked what was so funny. I told her why I was laughing, and she looked at me dumbfounded. I tried to explain, Vegas… Flight 777… then realized she wasn’t going to get it. So I turned to explain this to the person sitting next to me. Again, absolutely no response. Not even an, “I get it, but it’s just not funny”. Maybe this was only funny to me? So when I landed I got into a taxi and what was on the radio? “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk. This was a sign from the gods that it was my weekend to Get Lucky and make some serious cash in Las Vegas! But, go figure, I spent the entire weekend there and failed to gamble once. I may have missed my boat...

But speaking of getting lucky, I just hit another 7-7-7 on my ol' KickStarter slot machine!

Chris Mann (@IamChrisMann) saw my KickStarter page and is now a passenger on the Thank You Kung-Fu train! Chris came into the spotlight as a fourth place finisher on NBC's The Voice (2012). Since then he’s been growing in popularity, releasing CDs and DVDs over the past few years. But his star is still on the rise as he is currently playing the Phantom in the US Tour of Phantom of the Opera! WOW!

So, in order to help me reach my financial goal, Chris has generously offered me:

- His signed album, "Roads", named #1 on Billboard's Heatseekers Chart (featuring a duet with Christina Aguilera), and a signed Playbill for the "Phantom of the Opera" - $75

- His signed LIVE Concert event on CD/DVD including a duet with Martina McBride and Mindi Abair - $50

These amazing and personally signed gifts have just been added to my Kickstarter page. I’ve tried to include speakers, authors, artists, but just realized I was missing Broadway! And what better addition than the current Phantom of the Opera! All I Ask Of You is to take advantage of this amazing opportunity and Think Of Me! My campaign is just shy of $12,000, so let's forget this Masquerade and keep spreading the word! If we do, we'll get this campaign Past the Point of No Return!

December 03, 2010

I have to admit that I love the end of the year because you start to see everyones' "Best Of..." lists. One of my favorite publications, PASTE, always does a great job of this and this morning I've been catching up on their Top 25 Music videos of the year.

Usually when I'm sensing a lack of creativity, I know the first place to look for the problem. What's my input? If we expect to have good 'output', we need good 'input'. That principle pretty much goes across everything in life. Want to cook a cook meal? Use good ingredients. Want to be a good friend? Hang out with good friends. Want to tell good stories? Read good stories.

It's a very simple principle that we often forget. So... as you look to whatever endeavors you are planning for next year, check out the best of what happened this year. Then practice the creative art of stealing. That's right, every artist steals. You can either be a 'dirty thief' and plagiarize or you can be a 'proper thief' and follow this pattern.

"Suck. Mimic. Innovate."

Take in good input. Process it. Then make something better.

This is the process behind the creation of every new idea you and I have ever had. Now that you know the process, you can become better at it.

Here's some good input from 2010. Check out PASTE's top 25 music videos here, or see their complete list here.

Here are a few videos that inspired me in strange ways and made me get out my pen to start writing...

July 21, 2008

Andrew Bird is one of my favorite muscians these days so I was pleased to find this little interview/bike ride gem at Current TV. Enjoy and then become frustrated that you can't whistle as well as Andrew.

July 11, 2008

Love this band from Sweden, Pacific! Their site is fresh and their video for 'hot lips' is even better. iTunes doesn't have their whole album yet but you can hear a few more tunes on their MySpace. It just makes me want to roll the windows down and roll my white sport jacket sleeves up.

April 14, 2008

MuxTape is pretty much the best website ever. And the design... heavenly.

A friend and I were just thinking how sweet it would be to run the site and have constant access to the music server where all the music is stored It's the perfect gig! You pretty much have every music-phile sending you their favorite play lists! What a job.

February 01, 2008

Here's her myspace. Listen = Love. She's good and half the time she sings in French which never hurts. Speaking of French super-model singers, she reminds me of a slightly more pop-ish Carla Bruni.

* And to add some bonus points, she cover Britney Spear's "Toxic", which seems all too appropriate. When Yael sings the song, it's incredible to listen to, as opposed to when Britney sings it making me want to wear a pink polo with the collar up & drink an entire bottle of Jagermeister.

January 11, 2008

**After completing the 6 steps from yesterday's blog posting, do the following:

7. Call your college roommate and tell him/her, that after some shallow digging regarding the comments about the 'Moldy Peaches' being satanic, that he/she might not have been too far off.8. Apologize and ask how his/her mother is doing.